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Bananas is a monthly underground hip hop showcase that goes off every third Tuesday of the month at Kaos Network in Leimert Park. Six years running, Bananas is the place to be for enterprising hip hop artists who are making a name for themselves in L.A.’s underground scene. The lineup is determined by Kyle Guy (alter ego of posi rap superhero VerbS), who packs in a substantial list of young and hungry artists, rare talent, and out-of-town troubadours each month.

Lyraflip

Bananas isn’t just another obscure affair – You can always count on a core group of regulars in addition to an unpredictable mix of exquisite creatures from all corners of the city, many of whom would probably never find their way to Leimert Park without the lure of Bananas.

“It’s a big-ass rap party,” says Guy, who is apt to book more than a dozen acts for each show. “There are people from all walks of life coming out.”

Hugh Augustine

It’s an eclectic mix, where the money-and-hoes rappers get to mingle with the punk-rock hip hop heads. You never quite know who will pop up, like guitar virtuoso John Frusciante, who made a discreet appearance earlier this year, or any number of local legends from Leimert and beyond.

Signor Benedict the Moor

Hip hop may dominate, but that’s not all there is to the Bananas lineup. R & B, Afro Caribbean dance, live beats and sidewalk ciphers are all par for the course at this monthly gathering. Bananas goes off on the 3rd Tuesday of every month, with a few rare “Green Bananas” shows here and there.

Tonight 200 racers will smash, sprint and bear down with all their might in a high-stakes sprint through the DTLA's Second Street tunnel. Absent for the past couple years, the race quickly became the stuff of legends since inception. Cyclists hungry for speed and glory have long anticipated its resurrection, and the competition is guaranteed to be fierce.

Racers will sprint across a 1,000-foot straightaway on a slight incline, through the infamous tunnel (appearing in Blade Runner, Terminator, and Kill Bill) in a series of six heats. While the drag race once held notoriety as an underground event, this year’s race is a fully-permitted affair, with much thanks and gratitude owed to Dorothy Wong, Rick Kleinsmith, and Sara Hernandez, Downtown Director of Council District 14.

Wolfpack Hustle is teaming up with SoCalCross Precision Timing, to provide accuracy to the hundreth of a second in every heat. All racers will compete single-speed, and the top 16 men and women from all six heats will compete in a single-elimination battle until the fastest rider in each category remains the last one standing.

What’s at stake? First place man and woman each receive $100; throne occupants with the fastest time for each heat will be awarded various prizes; and of course, a set of prestigious Wolfpack dog tags awaits the fastest, fiercest racers.

The race begins at 8 p.m. Full race schedule can be found here. I’ll be racing in Heat 4, along with both the top-favored female, Beatriz Rodriguez, and top-favored male, Tim Mcgee. Sponsors include State Bicycle Co., City Grounds, Orange 20, TRAFIK, Jenson USA and many others.